Crypto usage in Turkey jumped by elevenfold in a year, new survey shows

Turkey’s crypto userbase grew more than 11 times over the last year, a new survey from Turkish crypto exchange Paribu shows. 

The “Cryptocurrency Awareness and Perception Survey 2021” was conducted by Akademetre Research, revealing the perceptions and behaviors of Turkish citizens toward Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. The first such survey was completed in 2020.

A significant discovery of last year’s research was that only 0.7% of over 6,000 respondents traded crypto in some form. On top of that, 84% of respondents had never heard of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies before. These results have contrasted with previous reports that claimed one-fifth of the Turkish population was exposed to cryptocurrency.

This year, however, shows a substantial jump in terms of cryptocurrency usage in Turkey. Out of about 1,400 respondents, 7.7% said they traded with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, marking an 11-times jump in crypto users compared to last year.

According to the survey, 11% of respondents with crypto knowledge have become active crypto users. As a major crypto exchange in the country, Paribu reflects the adoption speed with its user count, which grew from 600,000 to over 4 million within a year.

Related: How did the Turkish crypto ecosystem survive 2020?

High earnings (60%) and curiosity (37%) are primary motivations for Turkish citizens to use cryptocurrencies. Nearly one in four respondents used cryptocurrency because it was tech-based. On the other hand, the increase in crypto usage does not translate into blockchain familiarity, as the survey shows that 80% of respondents who know about crypto have never heard of blockchain.

Commenting on the results, Paribu CEO Yasin Oral said that the market’s price movements and exchanges’ marketing activities boosted crypto awareness in Turkey. Some local exchanges’ actions that took advantage of users affected the survey results negatively, he noted, adding, “Trust in cryptocurrencies is increasing, but this research shows us one more time that we need clear regulations to establish a complete trust for the userbase.”